1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to an output method and apparatus for receiving data such as a control language or the like from, for example, a host computer or the like and for outputting data.
2. Description of the Related Art
In a conventional output apparatus, for example, in a printing apparatus, the apparatus is set into an automatic switching allowable state such that when data is received and analyzed and processed, whether data which will be received next relates to which control language is judged and a processing mode can be switched to the process according to the control language.
In the above conventional apparatus, however, there is a problem such that in the case where a long time interval exists between the data while a series of data is received from a host computer as in the case where an amount of data which is transmitted from the host computer is large or the like, the printing apparatus determines that the data to be received ends, so that the processing mode is returned to the automatic switching mode and the data subsequent to the previously received data is not correctly analyzed but is abnormally outputted. On the other hand, since the switching operation is executed each time the reception of data is stopped, there is a case where a processing time becomes slow.
The invention is made in consideration of the above conventional apparatus and it is an object of the invention to provide an output method and apparatus in which even when data to be received is stopped, data which is subsequently received can be accurately rapidly processed.
Another object of the invention is to provide an output method and apparatus comprising: a discriminating step of discriminating a rule which dominates a description of reception data and storing the result of the discrimination; and a processing step of processing the reception data in accordance with the rule decided by the discriminating step, wherein after the reception data was processed by the processing step, the data received before the elapse of a predetermined time is processed in accordance with the result of the discrimination stored by the discriminating step, and with respect to the data received after the elapse of the predetermined time, the rule which dominates such data can be newly discriminated by the discriminating step.
Still another object of the invention is to provide output method and apparatus comprising: receiving means for receiving data; discriminating means for discriminating a rule which dominates a description of such data and storing the result of the discrimination; processing means for processing the data in accordance with the rule decided by the discriminating means, thereby forming image data; measuring means for measuring the elapse of time after the data was processed by the processing means; and output means for outputting the image data formed by the processing means, wherein when the data is received by the receiving means after the time measured by the measuring time elapsed by a predetermined time, the rule of the data is discriminated by the discriminating means, and when the data is received before the elapse of the predetermined time, the discrimination of the rule by the discriminating means is not executed but the received data can be processed by the processing means on the assumption that the received data conforms with the result of the discrimination by the discriminating means just before the data reception.